Black Sunset
by almost.to.the.sky
Summary: Draco Malfoy is color-blind. The only color he remembers vividly is the color of Ginny Weasley's hair. D/G Oneshot


**A/N Here is another oneshot about Draco and Ginny. I have been wanting to write this for a while and finally got around to it. It's inspired by a picture I took with my phone a few years ago of a sunset in the black and white setting. I hope you enjoy it. **

* * *

I remember red. Not just any red, but the red of her hair. Of course I had to go and remember that exact shade, instead of a normal one, like an apple or a Valentine heart. Because I should not be remembering her hair color. The hair color of a Weasley.

Granted, she wasn't like her brothers, not as obnoxious or annoying. And quite pretty. But, being brought up as a Malfoy, I was taught to detest anything even remotely related to muggles, especially the Weasley family, who were known for loving muggles and being poor.

I let go of those prejudices in my fifth year, but not many people were willing to overlook my surname and see that I was, in fact, a real person with real feelings, and I could change how I acted. And I did that. I stopped bullying people, and calling them names, even stopped teasing the Weasleys. They ignored me and I ignored them, and everything was calm, peaceful. But it would still look bad if a Malfoy and a Weasley were seen together. Which is exactly what happened in my seventh year.

It was on the train, and I was sitting alone in my compartment, just watching the trees rush by, when the door slid open and Ginny Weasley walked in. She sat down without looking at me and pulled out a book.

"Can I help you?" I asked in an icy tone. Just because I had gotten over my prejudices didn't mean I didn't like my privacy.

"There isn't any room in the other compartments," she answered, still not looking at me. I knew that was a lie. There weren't many people here this year, what with Dumbledore's death at the end of last year, and the fact that Harry Potter had gone missing. But what I was interested in was why she would want to sit with me and not her friends.

"Why aren't you with Longbottom and Lovegood?"

"Because they are having some…alone time." At this she finally looked at me.

Oh.

"Don't you have any other friends?" I asked.

"Not really. After the whole Chamber incident people have been wary around me. For Merlin's sake it was five years ago! Can't they just get over it?" She was ranting now and I decided to stop her before it became too much.

"Okay, okay, calm down. No need to start yelling."

"I wasn't yelling."

"You were raising your voice, and if I hadn't stopped you it would have probably escalated to yelling pretty soon."

"You don't know that," she retorted, but I could see that she knew I was right. I smirked a little.

"Well, are you going to be leaving anytime soon?"

"Nope." She turned back to her book.

I sighed, but looked away too. We spent the rest of the ride in silence.

You're probably wondering why I said I "remember" red. Well, that is because I am color-blind. I only see in black, white, and the endless shades of grey in between. It happened in my fifth year, around the time I stopped following Voldemort and the bullshit he was preaching.

I'm not sure who cast it, and I'm not sure if the person was aiming for me. But the spell hit my face and I blacked out. When I awoke, all the colors were gone. I panicked for a second before

controlling my face and putting on a stone mask before anyone could see the panic in my eyes. Everyone thought I was fine, except maybe the mediwitch, but she never said anything. I continued on as before, just without seeing any colors.

I did remember them though. Unfortunately, most faded over time, but one stayed perfectly clear. The color of Ginny Weasley's red hair. I'm not really sure how to describe it. It's a few shades lighter than blood red, but much darker than the orange-red of the rest of her family.

I also remember various shades of other colors, such as the blue of the sky on a sunny day and Slytherin green. But none so vividly as the color of her hair.

I'm not sure what to make of that. I would like to think that it is because I am so annoyed by it, but I know that's not true. I actually think it is the prettiest shade of red in the world. But if people knew that it would not go over well with them, so I kept it to myself.

The first few months of school went by relatively the same. Classes, meals, studying, sleep. Other than across the Great Hall during mealtimes, I only saw Ginny occasionally, sometimes in the halls, sometimes in the library. We never spoke. At least, not until the end of October.

I was sitting at my favorite table in the library, my finished homework in a pile on the table. It was nearing dusk, so the last rays of the sun were being cast across the grounds, leaving long shadows and, if I could see color, I would see the different shades of pink and orange and yellow of the sunset over the treetops.

Anyway, while I was looking out the window, someone came up and sat down. I turned and saw Ginny Weasley sitting next to me, a nervous yet determined look on her face. I quirked an eyebrow up, wondering what she was doing here.

Apparently she knew what I was thinking and started talking. "Hi, um, Malfoy. I was just wondering if you would, um, help me with something."

"And what, pray tell, could I possibly help you with?"

"Um, transfiguration. I don't understand it and I heard that you're really good at it, so I was hoping you could help me." I just looked at her blankly. She shifted back and forth for a few moments before standing up to go. "Sorry, I'll, uh, just be going then."

"Wait. I'll do it. I'll help you." I can't believe I just said that.

"Really?" Her face lit up with hope and I knew I couldn't back down.

"Yes, now sit down before I change my mind." She quickly retook the seat she had been sitting in before. She opened her transfiguration book to the chapter they were on.

"So," I said, "what exactly do you need help with? Wand movement, theory, pronunciation…"

"Everything really," she said, her face darkening with what I knew was a blush.

I sighed. But then I switched into "teacher mode." It got its name when I would help my friend Blaise Zabini with potions. "Well, this spell…"

The "tutoring sessions" continued on every night. I found that Ginny was a quick learner so after a few weeks she was doing a lot on her own without my help. Our time in the library wasn't just Transfiguration, though. We did our other homework and talked about other things.

In great contrast to her brother Ron, she actually had a brain and we had some pretty intellectual conversations. We talked about classes, family, and, of course, the war.

"So," she said, "I know you've changed from being all Death Eater-ish, but why? What made you change your mind?"

I knew this was coming sooner or later. I was hoping for later.

"Well, I mostly just came to my senses. All that stuff had been shoved into my head since I was a kid, so it took me a while to realize that it was all completely idiotic. All the prejudices are useless and I finally understood that. It just leads to fighting when it's just better with none."

"Your father didn't try to stop you?"

"Oh, of course he did. But I just refused to continue and since he didn't want to lose his only son, he let it go."

"Oh," was all she said. We sat in silence for a while. The natural light was going away as the sun began to go down and the lamps started turning on.

"Let's go outside," Ginny said suddenly. She didn't allow me to reply before grabbing my hand and pulling me through the library and out the door. Once we got to the halls she let go of my hand and started running.

I had no choice but to follow her.

She led the way outside and kept running until we hit the top of a hill.

"Is there a reason why we are out here?" I asked.

"To watch the sunset," she replied and pointed. I followed her finger to see the sun going down over the lake and the mountains behind it. Even without the colors it was beautiful. I turned to look at Ginny and saw her gazing out toward the sunset, a small smile on her face.

We sat down and watched in silence as the sun fell completely past the mountains and disappeared until tomorrow when it would rise again.

She sighed. "I just love sunsets," she said. "Don't you?"

"Yeah, they're pretty cool," I said.

"The colors are so beautiful."

"I wouldn't know," I said in a low voice.

"What do you mean?" Of course she would hear me.

I had been planning to tell her about my…condition soon, but it never seemed like a good time. I guess things have a way of happening if they're meant to.

"Well," I began, "in my fifth year, I was hit by a spell and it made me go color-blind. I can't see anything except black, white, and grey."

"Oh. Well, that sucks."

I laughed at that. "Yeah, it kinda does."

"And you can't fix it?"

"I don't know. I looked for stuff about it in the library, but there wasn't really anything about it."

"Do you remember what any of the colors look like?" Of course she would ask this.

"Yeah, I remember some of them. Some more clearly than others."

"Which ones?"

"Well, your hair color for instance."

"Seriously?"

"Yup. For some reason I remember the exact shade of your hair."

"Oh."

"Hey, Ginny?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?"

"Sure."

And so I did. Under the slowly gathering stars at the end of the sunset, we kissed.

Watching the sunset together became a tradition for us. Ginny with her color-filled sunset and me with my black sunset. It was perfect.


End file.
